Wringer



Patented Apr. 13, 1926.

narran STAT-Es Letonia PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. LEWIS, OF GRINNELL, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO GRINNELL WASHING MACHINECOMPANY, OF GRINNELL, IOWA.

WRINGER.

Application filed December 20, 1921.. Serial No. 523,748.

10 all whom t may con-cern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE IV. Lnwis, a citizen ofthe United States, andresident of Grinnell, in the county of Poweshiek and State of Iowa, haveinvented a certain new and useful Vringer, of which the following is aspecification.

In connection with the use of clothes wringers, and particularly withthe wringers that are operated by powerl instead of by hand, itsometimes occurs that garments be come caught and entangled in thewringer rolls, or that the operators hand becomes caught between therolls, .and in such instances' itis desirable that some means beprovided for instantly separating the wringer rolls.

My object is to provide a wringer for power-operated machines, ofsimple, durable and inexpensive construction, and. in which the upperwringer roll may be instantly separated from the lower one by either adirect push or pull upon a bar of large size so located that it isreadily accessible to the operator, and my further object is to providea wringer deviceof this character in which, after the upper wringer rollhas thus been released, it may be replaced quickly and easily andwithout the necessity of readjusting the spring tension devices withwhich these wringers are equipped, so that the operator may promptlycontinue the use of the wringer, and without the delay incident toreadjustmcnt of the tension devices.

A further. object is to provide an improved drain board for wringers, ofsimple," durable and inexpensive construction, that may be readily,quickly and easily shifted to drain water in either direction and 'todeliver the Vwater to a considerable distance from the wringer in eitherdirection without making the drain board of unusual or excessive width.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects con-V templatedare attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in myclaim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure/1 shows a front elevation of a wringer embodying my invention.

Figure 2 shows an end elevation of same.

The dotted lines show the upper roll in its elevated position, and thespring tension device lowered out of the way.

Figure 3 shows an enlarged detail view, partly in section, illustratingthe means for automatically pressingthe tension springs when the upperroller is returned to its normal position; and

Figure 4 shows an end elevation, on a reduced scale, of the end oppositefrom that illustrated in Figure 2.

Referring to the accompanying'drawings, I have used the referencenumeral 10 toindicate the main supporting frame of the lower wringerroll, the lower roll being indicated by the reference numeral 11'. Onthe side opposite from the main frame member 10 is a frame member 12 forthe lower wringer roll. This frame member 12 is firmly connected to theframe member 10'y by two stationary rods 13 and 14:, which extend acrossfrom the frame member' 10 to the frame member 12 at one side above andbelow the wringer rolls.

In the front face of each of the frame members 10 and 12 is a bearingmember 15. In each ofthese bearing members is mounted an upright shaft16, having a horizontal extension-at its lower end extended through saidbearing. The upper end of each of these shafts 16 is reduced, as shownat 17 in Figure 3, and on the reduced portion is slidingly mounted alatch device 18, having its lower surface rounded, for purposeshereinafter made clear.

For the upper wr'inger roll 19'tliere are two frame members, one beingindiated by the numeral 2G and the other by the numeral 21.' Each ofthese is provided with 'a lug 22, which is pivotally mounted upon therod 13. The frame member 12 is provided with a horizontal shoulder 23,upon which the lower end of the frame member 21 rests whenV in normalposition, as clearly shown in F igure4. Eachof ther frame members 20 and21 is provided at one side with an outwardly extending arm 24 having arounded depression on its top surface at 25, designed to receive therounded latch device 18,.and also each of these arms 24 has an inclinedtop surface 26 extending outwardly and downwardly from the depression25.

The wringer rolls have suitable bearings in the respective framemembers, and they' are provided with coacting, intermeshing gears of thekind now in ordinary use and which I have not illustrated or described.

On the shafts 16 above the latch devices 18, I have mounted compressionsprings 27, and slidingly mounted on the said shafts, above thecompression springs, is an actuating bar 28, and above this bar are thetension adjusting nuts 29. y l preferably permanently mark on one sideof this bar the word Pull, and on the other side the word Push. Thelatter is not shown in the drawings.

In the operation of this part of the device, andassuming that thewringer is in its normal position for use, then in the event that it isdesired to instantly release and remove the upper rollthe operator movesthe bar Q8 so that the latch devices 18 will slide out of theirdepressions and down the inclined surfaces 2G of the arms 24 until tieyare free from said arms, whereupon the upper roll and its supportingframe members are free to swing upwardly on the pivot 13, as illustratedby dotted lines in Figure Then when it is desired to return the wringerto normal operative position, the operator simply grasps the bar 28 andmoves it back to its normal position. Vvlhen near the end of thismovementthe latch devices 1S will engage the inclined surfaces 26 of thearms 2%, and upon further movement of the bar 28 the springs 27 will becompressed and the latch devices will finally enter the depressions 9.5,and when they are in said position the tension of the springs will beexactly the same as it was before the operation of releasing` the upperroll, so that no new adjustment of the springs is necessary.

My improved drain board device comprises a drain board body portion 30,which is shaped to enter between the lower ends of the frames 10 and l2.On its under surface, near each end, is a lug 31, and on one of itssides, near each end, is a bolt opening 32.

T he wringer isl provided with a latch bar comprisiny a body portion ltsends are straight and are slidingly mounted in the lower ends of theframe members 1() and 12. On one end of the latch bar 83 is a lever Se;

for pulling the latch bar out, and near the other end is a spring formoving it in the opposite direction. To engage one end of this spring 35l have provided an arm 3G which encircles the latch bar 33 and is thenextended upwardly and outwardly through the frame 10. This arm at oneend, and the latch bar at the other, form the supports upon which thedrain board is slidingly supported, and for the purpose of holding thedrain board at either limit of its movement l have provided a slide bolt37 mounted in the frame 12 and designed to enter one of the openings 32in the drain board.

In practical use with this part of the device, and assuming that it isdesired to adjust it, the operator pulls out the slide holt 37,whereupon the entire drain board is free to slide on its supportingmembers and 33 from one limit of its movement to the other. W hen itreaches one limit of its movement, it will be stopped by Ahe lugs 251,and then when it is tilted in the proper direction for use as a drainboard the slide bolt 37 is inserted in the opening 3&2 and then thedrain board is securely locked in this position.

By this arrangement l have provided a very simple and inexpensiveconstruction, by which the drain hoard is firmly supported when in use,but capable of both pivotal and sliding movement when the slide bolt 37is removed.

l claim as my invention:

ln a wringer, the combination of a lower roll, a frame in which thelower roll is supported, an upper roll, a frame in which the upper rollis supported, said upper roll frame being pivotally connected to thelower one so that when moved on its pivot the upper roll will beseparated from the lower roll, a tension device comprising an uprightrod pivoted at its lower end to the said lower roll frame, the upper endof said rodbeing` provided with a contracted portion, the upper end ofwhich is screw threaded, a latch device rotatively and slidably mountedon the said contracted portion, a nut for said screw threaded portion, aspring` on said contracted portion between said nut and said latchdevice, said latch device having` its under surface rounded, a pair oflugs eX- tending laterally from each enti of the frame of the upperroll, said lugs being spaced apart to receive the upwardly extendinglrod between them in such a manner that the rounded surface of said latchdevice will engage their upper edges for yieldably supporting the rollsof said frame members together.

GEORGE YV. LEVS.

